


A Love Lost, a Love Found

by jibberjabber13



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Character Death, Dyslexia, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-05 13:03:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15171329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jibberjabber13/pseuds/jibberjabber13
Summary: Evelyn loses her soulmate, while Alex thinks he may just have found his.





	A Love Lost, a Love Found

The sounds of the hospital, with all its beeping and shouting and racing around, faded to a din as Alex sat in the waiting room of the Zuzu City Emergency Clinic. As he waited, he shifted around in his chair, trying to get comfortable against the hard back.

“Hey.” Alex looked up. Standing above him was a tan, long-haired man holding a styrofoam cup filled with coffee. Steam curled from the top. “I brought you this.”

Alex nodded his thanks as reached out to gingerly take the coffee from him. “You didn’t have to do this, Hunter,” he said. “Be here for this.”

“Of course I did,” he said.

Hunter took a seat next to him, back not touching the chair, leaning sideways towards Alex. He fiddled with the straps of his denim overalls before placing a hand tenderly on Alex’s knee. Alex’s eyebrows shot up, and Hunter removed his hand like he’d been burned. He reached up to scratch the back of his neck, blush barely noticeable, but still there.

Alex didn’t say anything. Instead, he took a sip of his drink, hot liquid burning his tastebuds, and tried to slow his racing heartbeat. 

The doors burst open, and a salt-and-pepper haired doctor walked into the waiting room. “Alex Thatcher?” he said. Alex stood up, handing the coffee to Hunter. “You can go see your grandfather now. We’re about to...” The doctor swallowed and looked sideways, not wanting to make eye contact with Alex.

“Got it,” Alex said, voice breaking, even as he tried to keep it strong and steady.

He followed the doctor down a long hallway, white walls passing by in a blur. Yet, at the same time, Alex felt like he was moving in slow motion, stuck in a pile of mud. 

Inside the room, his grandmother stood by the bedside, clasping George’s hand in hers. She held it gently as if afraid of breaking him, even though they all knew he was broken beyond repair. As Alex walked in, she gave him a loving smile. 

“Hi, dear,” she said. Even though Evelyn was always soft-spoken, her words registered even quieter than usual, just above a whisper. “Come stand over next to me.”

Alex walked over to his grandmother, steps echoing on the tile. The room would have been completely silent were it not for those footsteps and the beeps on the monitors attached to George. He lay on the bed, still and fading, his face the same color white as the ghost Alex dressed up as for Halloween as a child. He’d worn that costume the year after he moved to the valley, when he was ten, and George and Evelyn took him in as their own child.

As he stood next to Evelyn, one hand on her shoulder and the other over his grandparents’ hands, a sob rose in his throat. Alex was no stranger to loss, having endured his mother’s passing all those years ago. He wasn’t a stranger to hospitals, either; his mother died in a bed much like the one his grandfather was in, deep circles under her eyes and a longing to be free.

He wondered if that was how his grandfather felt too.

Of course, there was no way to know. George fell into a coma a little over two weeks ago, a result of a sudden stroke that upended everything in the life of Alex and his grandparents. Evelyn spent all of her waking moments in the hospital by his side, while Alex took care of the house and visited when he could.

Truthfully, he wouldn’t have been able to do it without Hunter. The farmer had stopped by every day since George’s stroke to help Alex, volunteering to wash dishes and scrub countertops. He even made Evelyn a home-baked pie, which she accepted with a gracious smile and her signature twinkle in her eyes, which meant she was very pleased.

But now, there was no sparkle in his grandmother’s eyes. There was only the heartbreak of losing sixty years of partnership and love. According to the doctor, George wasn’t ever going to wake up.

The doctor gave them a moment, then turned to Evelyn. “Are you ready, Mrs. Mullner?”

Evelyn squeezed George’s hand and nodded. “Goodbye, Georgie,” she whispered, tears flowing down her face in waves. Alex bit his cheek to keep from crying himself, but a few stray tears escaped anyway. He let them roll down his cheeks and jaw and onto his green jacket. They left small spots on the front.

The doctor fiddled around with the machinery, and then that was it. There was nothing to do now but wait for the final signs of life to ebb out of him. According to the doctor, it could take anywhere from a couple hours to a few days for George’s heart to stop beating.

“I hope it doesn’t hurt anymore, my love,” Evelyn said, stroking George’s cheek, fingers brushing over the wrinkles and creases in his face. 

Alex closed his eyes and prayed that his grandfather was going to a better place. Whatever that meant for him.

* * *

The funeral was held five days later in the town square. Alex spent most of it keeping an eye on his grandmother, who looked like she could collapse at any moment, her body language and words all sunken in. He kept a hand on her back as he led her in from the burial, checking in with her every step of the way.

They put George’s ashes in a cookie jar that Evelyn placed in their house years ago. It was a hand-painted, ceramic piece that housed her famous chocolate chip cookies. Alex had often caught George wheeling into the kitchen to snag a few cookies before receiving a good-natured swat at his hands from Evelyn. 

She was contemplative during the service, eyes never leaving the floor. Alex watched her carefully as he got up to give the eulogy, a piece that his grandmother penned. He wasn’t very good at writing—the words and letters often swam around and rearranged themselves when they shouldn’t.

Towards the back, Alex could see Hunter, standing tall and broad-shouldered, heads above everyone else in town. He dwarfed Shane, who stood next to the farmer at a mere five-foot-four. When Hunter caught Alex’s eye, he gave him the briefest, tiniest of smiles. It was reassuring, yet sad for his loss. It was the perfect thing to do in that moment, and Alex was grateful for the farmer’s presence.

“I’m so sorry,” he said after the service, as he wrapped his arms around Alex for a tight embrace. He was warm, hands moving in a soothing motion up and down his back. Alex fought the urge to cry again. 

“Thank you,” Alex said into his ear. “For everything.”

When the farmer first moved into town, Alex didn’t expect him to become such a big part of his life. A dumpy farmer was of no interest to Alex, who focused on going pro in gridball and looking after his grandparents. Besides, he didn’t even like boys; he liked beautiful girls, always had.

But over time, he found that Hunter was so much more than “the farmer.” He was kind, attentive, and patient when Alex couldn’t be. Underneath his large and gruff looking exterior was a gentle giant. 

Lately, Alex hadn’t been able to get his deep brown eyes out of his mind. They followed him around everywhere. In the end, though, he wasn’t so sure that was such a bad thing.

* * *

Hunter came by the week following the funeral for Alex’s tutoring lesson. Since the fall of his first year in town, Hunter had been helping Alex improve his literacy and study for entrance exams to Zuzu State’s online courses. 

They sat in his bedroom, Alex hunched over a copy of The Old Man and the Sea. His elbows were propped up on the desk, and his hands gripped pieces of his hair, tugging on them each time he messed up a word. He groaned in frustration. He wanted to read better, he really did, but it was so hard when the letters seemed to scramble at a moments’ notice.

Hunter was next to him, watching his face closely. As his eyes trailed over the features of Alex’s face, Alex found himself unable to concentrate on the words. Instead, all he could hear was his pounding heart.

“It’s okay, Alex,” Hunter said quietly, curling his fingers around Alex’s bicep. “Just keep going. You’ll get it.”

“God, how are you so patient with me?” Alex said, moving his hands to cover his face. He screamed into his palms. “I’m such an idiot.”

To his surprise, he felt a sob nearly escape his throat. The weight of everything he’d experienced the past few weeks crashed down on top of him, and he suddenly had the urge to sprint as far away from his life as he could. He wondered how long it would take him to run all way to Sunnyside, the neighboring town that was about twenty miles away.

As if he sensed Alex’s desire to flee, Hunter tightened his grip on his arm. “Don’t give up on me,” he said. “You’re so much stronger than you think you are.”

Alex looked at him, the solid line of his jaw and the serious expression on his face. He knew Hunter was strong—not just physically, but emotionally too. He’d come from a broken home, just like Alex, only without a mother and grandparents like his. For years, Hunter had been all alone, and somehow he’d persevered through the foster homes and the constant rebuilding of his own life.

In a split second decision, Alex placed both of his hands on the side of Hunter’s face and pulled him in to press their lips together. Hunter was taken aback, frozen for a second, but then they fell into a natural, easy rhythm as he began to kiss Alex back.

Alex’s heart ached and soared all at the same time. It felt right. It felt good.

When they pulled apart, Hunter gave him a wide smile that left Alex reeling. The stoic farmer rarely showed intense emotions. It was breathtaking.

“I’ll see you next week, okay?” he said, getting up and regaining his bearings. He paused for a moment and wiped his hands on his overalls. “Also, maybe you could stop by my farmhouse sometime for a cup of coffee.”

“I’d love to,” Alex said with a grin.

After Hunter left, Alex couldn’t stop his mind from buzzing. 

He walked out into the main room of the house to find Evelyn. Ever since George passed away, she’d parked herself in a wooden chair she stole from the dining room table and placed facing the television. Today, she was staring out the window at the rain that slid down, leaving streaks on the glass. The sounds of George’s favorite show faded in and out.

In her hands, she held this old, dusty-smelling book that she took out every morning and evening to read from in her spot in front of the television. In it were poems that Alex remembered his grandfather reading to him as a kid tucked into bed. Since his grandfather’s passing, Alex could see his childhood in every crevice of his home.

“Gram,” Alex said. “How did you know grandpa was who you wanted to spend your life with?”

She turned from the window. “Is this about Hunter?”

Alex’s mouth fell open, gaping. “Is this...is this what?”

Evelyn gave him a smile, small and tender. It was the first sign of happiness she’d shown since the service. “Don’t think I can’t tell what’s going on, dear,” she said, voice lightly teasing. “You two look at each other the way George and I used to.”

Alex blushed deeply. “I mean I...” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. He could feel the gel crunching underneath his fingers. There was no use hiding anything from his grandmother; she always knew. “Yeah. I am.”

She nodded, that tiny smile still gracing her lips. “Well, I knew George was the one because we just...understood each other,” she said, voice flowing like water. Like talking about her love for George was the most natural thing she could do. “I know everyone in town always saw us as opposites, destined to fail. My family sure did. But we balanced each other out.”

“Huh,” Alex said. He thought about Hunter, and the way his patience tempered Alex’s own volatile emotions and his need to always prove himself.

“I was calm when he couldn’t be, and he helped me stand up for myself and be more outspoken,” Evelyn continued. “Together, there was nothing we couldn’t do. Raising you was a blessing that helped us realize that.”

He grinned at his grandmother. “Damn right I’m a blessing, Gram,” he joked. She let out a sudden laugh, shoulders shaking. He hadn’t heard that sound in a long time, and it made his heart happy.

She looked at him with a thoughtful expression for a while. “Don’t you ever let him go, okay?” she said. “Not even for a second.”

Alex closed his eyes for a moment and imagined a life with Hunter, with marriage and adopted kids and a couple of dogs, and he found peace. “Wouldn’t dream of it, Gram,” he said.

He walked into the kitchen and took one of the wooden seats, dragging it behind him as he went to join Evelyn. He set the chair next to her and sat on top of it, legs crossed, just like when he was a kid.

“Tell me more about grandpa,” he said.

Evelyn laughed again and ran a hand over the frizz on the top of her white hair. He settled in for a night in with his grandmother, listening to the sound of the rain tapping on the roof and the stories of a love that lasted even after death.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3 This is a fic idea that came to me some time ago, and while it made me sad to write Evelyn losing George, I felt it was a story that wanted to be told. I hope you enjoyed and please feel free to leave any feedback or comments below!


End file.
